PHX Reporter

The University of Arizona's (UA) Biosphere 2 revealed plans to plant trees inside the facility for Earth Day on April 22, according to a news release from the university. 

UA will plant 25 coffee trees within the Biosphere 2 research facility as part of its Earth Day celebrations this year. This will help researchers investigate how climate change will affect coffee trees.

"In general, planting trees is an excellent way to celebrate Earth Day, but part of our mission at Biosphere 2 is to approach every day as Earth Day, so for us, this is really just business as usual," John Adams, Biosphere 2 deputy director, said in the news release. "By introducing the coffee trees, our rainforest researchers are hoping to find solutions that make these plants more resilient to future climate challenges and to develop simple, reliable bean processing techniques for small coffee producers."

Adams continued, "Doing so not only helps us better understand the impact climate change has on the rainforest, but it also benefits communities whose economies are reliant on the success of coffee as an export."

Most of the world's coffee trees are grown in the Bean Belt near the equator, and coffee is the world's most traded product, the news release noted. The trees are incredibly vulnerable to climate change, as warmer, drier conditions brought about by increasing global temperatures threaten areas where coffee is grown. 

At Biosphere 2, students will use the information they gather from their trees to help find ways to protect the global crop in the face of climate change. 

"Students will get to do hands-on work with beans, do processing, and generate their own cup of coffee and see what the processing does," Joost van Haren, a Biosphere 2 assistant research professor, said in the news release. "This will also lead to more outreach opportunities for the public."

UA researchers will plant the trees on April 23. The inaugural TMC Earth Day 5K Run/Walk will be held at Biosphere 2 on the same day. Funds raised during the event will be put towards Biosphere 2's Ocean Reef Lab, the news release said.